The present invention relates to staple removers. More precisely, the present invention relates to a reduced effort, cam action, one hand actuated staple remover.
Staples are used to fasten items together. For example, a piece of paper or like sheet material may be attached to a wood or cork substrate with a staple gun or other tacker device. Or a stack of papers may be fastened together with a desktop stapler or similar office appliance. When used to fasten papers together, a staple normally has folded legs that bind and confine the papers between a top wire and the legs. Staple removers are used to ease and simplify the task of unbinding the stack of papers or removing the staple from the substrate.
Staple removers are often complementary to staplers. An edge, surface or other element of the remover extends under the top wire of the staple during or after which the staple is pulled from an object to which it was previously fixed. Two general categories of staple removers are commonly found. One type employs a lever action to slide from one direction under the wire; continued sliding or leveraging then pulls the staple out. Another type uses opposed claws or ends to press under the top wire from opposed sides. This second type may be called a claw type staple remover.
In a leveraging type remover, a net lateral force is created against the staple since the lever is normally forced in from one side only. When used on a lightweight object such as a stack of papers, a user's second hand must hold the paper from sliding or moving laterally. In the claw type remover, the device includes a normal vertical orientation substantially perpendicular to a working surface such as a stack papers. Opposed and substantially equal forces act upon the staple wire to cause minimal net lateral force on the papers or object to which the staple is attached. The claws are generally pivoted to each other at or near a top end of the device, with the jaws at a bottom of the device, and a pressing area for a user's fingers above the jaws, between the jaws and the pivot.
A variation of a leveraging type staple remover has a pliers action whereby the remover is inserted under the staple as with a simple leveraging type, and the tool extends laterally. Squeezing behind a pivot causes the pliers action to spread at the staple. This device remains long and clumsy, and still requires a second hand to stabilize the papers.
The claw type staple remover may be more compact than the leveraging type, but they are inherently inefficient. Jaws of the remover force the staple out by wedging teeth of the jaws under the staple from both sides. The action proceeds via the jaws substantially, entirely sliding against the staple wire through the entire actuation stroke. The action combines sliding with lifting as one action and thus includes substantial friction between the jaws and the staple wire. The excess friction also tends to deform the staple, which may further to add to the force required to remove the staple. Once the jaws are wedged under the staple, the friction and other inefficiencies can limit the ability to fully pull out the staple. A user then must pull the staple directly out of the paper; and such action tends to tear the paper.
Some claw removers may combine sliding and lifting as partially separate operations. But the two functions include substantial overlap and are thus not efficient. Or the functions may be separate, but require distinct types of actions from a user to complete a removing operation.
The deformation and friction from the conventional claws against the staple often cause one staple leg to pull out before the other leg, leaving one leg still hooked in the paper. This requires another step in the removal process where the user must use his or her fingers or a set of pliers to pluck out the staple. The deformation of the staple wire can also cause the staple to get wedged in between the two respective jaws of the remover. This then requires a further operational step to detach the staple from the remover. This final step to separate the staple from the remover can be more difficult than removing the staple from the paper.
It would be desirable to be able to consistently grab and pull a staple from the paper in one, low force squeezing motion using a simple, efficient, compact, and low cost remover device.